NYT Questions 2003’s Most Over and Underrated Ideas

The New York Times reported on December 27 that “the United States” and “Dr. Leo Strauss” are the most overrated, and that “Hip Hop” and “honesty” are the most underrated ideas in America this year.

The Times asked for “the most overrated and underrated ideas” from opinionated people of various circles, such as writers and scholars, and releases the results every year.

The responses varied from “luxurious chocolate” and “thick makeup” to “religion” and “money” because those surveyed can answer freely.

Dr. Peter Singer of Princeton University answered that “America” is the most overrated. He was cynical, saying, “[Americans] imagine that they live in the most democratic nation on earth. But in the United States, to a far greater extent than in many other democracies, electorates are shamelessly gerrymandered and the voting system squeezes out minor parties.” Furthermore, he added, “Americans think they are the freest people on earth, but the president keeps American citizens in detention for nearly two years without even allowing them to talk to a lawyer, let alone putting them on trial.”

The ideology of Dr. Strauss, who is known as the father of Neo-conservatives (Neocons), was also identified as the most overrated idea. David Greenberg, a critic on politics, pointed out that, “it suddenly became fashionable to assign blame (or, if you prefer, credit) for the Iraq invasion to Leo Strauss, but in fact, Strauss wasn`t mainly concerned with geopolitics that studies international conflicts.” He criticized more directly, saying, “The key movers behind the war were not intellectuals but thoroughgoing political animals named Donald H. Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney and George W. Bush.”

In addition, monotheistic religions such as Christianity were identified as overrated in a sense that they believe, “If we are good, others are evil.” “Capitalism” was also identified as one of the most overrated because even in the wealthiest society in the world, education, health care and housing are out of reach for many.

On the other hand, some suggested that the “link between money and happiness” is underrated. It resulted from the fact that for many insist money does not guarantee happiness, as this year’s national income growth is not proportional to people’s well-being. However, Robert Frank of Cornell University added that, “Having enough can make life a lot less stressful.”

There was also sentiment that “honesty” was underrated in America this year. This is because honest discussions on major issues such as the war on Iraq and Medicare were dismissed as “unpatriotic” or “partisan.”

“Hip-Hop politics” is one of the underrated ideas as well. Bakari Kitwana, author of The Hip-Hop Generation: Young Blacks and the Crisis in African American Culture, said, “Presidential candidates are arming themselves with hip-hop to reach out to young voters and some hip-hop CDs are going platinum overnight,” and that, “there are signs of links between the Hip-Hop movement and politics.”

Hye-Yoon Park parkhyey@donga.com